San Francisco dog owners bark over off-leash limits

SAN FRANCISCO - The dogs scampering across East Beach, some on leashes but most running free, were getting along a lot better than some of the humans trying to figure out what to do about them.

SAN FRANCISCO — The dogs scampering across East Beach, some on leashes but most running free, were getting along a lot better than some of the humans trying to figure out what to do about them.

“I think the National Park Service, at least in its upper management, is anti-dog,” said Martha Walters, a spokeswoman for the Crissy Field Dog Group, which has been opposing proposed National Park Service rules that its members feel drastically reduce the amount of space in the city for dogs to run off-leash.

“There is a strong sense of entitlement among some, not all, dog owners that they can run their dogs wherever they want,” said Mike Lynes, who, as the executive director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, is concerned about the impact of all these dogs on the wild creatures in the parks, not to mention the humans.

San Francisco is proud of its quirks. But when three — environmentalism, political activism and dogs — come together, there is not a leash strong enough to keep them apart.

“There is a lot of passion about this issue in San Francisco,” said Howard Levitt, the spokesman for the National Park Service here. “Dog conflicts are among the toughest to deal with.”

The statistic is often repeated: There are more dogs than children in the city.

There is only one part of the nation’s national park system that provides any area for dogs to run off-leash: the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, spread across 74,816 acres of marshes, lagoons and 28 miles of shoreline.

The bulk of the recreation area, however, hugs some of the prime spots on this dense, bustling city’s waterfront, where over the years, residents have gotten used to letting their dogs go without a leash in many parts of the park.

There is now a 90-day public-comment period for dog owners and others to make their displeasure known.

The plan breaks down all 22 areas where dogs have been allowed throughout the park. In some of those areas, dogs will be banned. In others, they will be allowed if leashed. Dogs will be allowed without a leash in only seven areas.